


Home

by southernbookgirl



Category: NCIS
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Sweaters, Christmas prompts, Ellick, F/M, Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-04 22:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16798168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/southernbookgirl/pseuds/southernbookgirl
Summary: No matter where you are, you will always find your way back home.





	Home

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave comments and/or kudos below. Happy first day of December!

_“Never above you. Never below you. Always beside you.” ~Walter Winchell_

* * *

Agents Sloane and Gibbs convinced Director Vance to give the team the week off between Christmas and New Year's Day since they had been working nonstop on an interagency investigation since late October. Nicholas “Nick” Torres and Eleanor “Ellie” Bishop had been quite pleased – Nick had all but jumped out of his pants in excitement over the announcement – but their time off did not quite turn out quite the way either planned. Called away by a joint NCIS-FBI investigation, Nick left on Christmas night to assist with a separate case that required undercover work to search out and neutralize threats at a G8 Conference in New York. When Ellie awoke the next morning, she realized she contracted a full-fledged cold.  
  
Coughing and wheezing, sniffling and sneezing – those sounds occupied her day instead of the sounds of Christmas music and her humming as she painted or the crackle of flames as she read by the fireside to pass the time while Nick was away. Sloane and Kasie visited several times during the four days of Nick’s absence to help her as much as she would let them. Then Palmer, who wished to help Ellie but not expose himself to her illness due to his wife and daughter recovering from serious viruses, sent through Sloane various medicines and vitamins to help speed up Bishop’s recovery. Thus, Ellie’s “vacation” became a “stay-cation” and a countdown of the days until Torres came home.  
  
Nick’s plane landed late on the evening of December 29th. Bishop, try as she may, could not stay awake due to the swift effects of the Nyquil and other cold medications. So, the only greeting exchanged between the two that night was a light kiss on the forehead and a whispered “I’m home, babe. Love you and sleep tight” from Nick. Ellie mumbled her greetings before drifting off to sleep. When she awoke the next morning, feeling much better than she had in days, Ellie thought it all a medicinal-induced dream until she saw the indentation in the other pillow and her fiancé’s phone lying on the bedside table.  
  
Grabbing her robe, she threw it on as she walked through the bedroom door, down the hall, and to the kitchen where she heard strains of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Glancing around the corner, she saw Nick in his green pajama bottoms, a white t-shirt, and, for whatever reason, his ugly Christmas sweater of a knitted Mrs. Claus in front of a lit tree. _I guess he didn’t get enough of it at the team Christmas party_ , she pondered briefly, studying him for a moment as he moved to the beat of the music while mixing what looked like pancake batter in a large metal bowl. The blonde agent quietly walked up to him, slid her arms around his waist, and leaned forward to plant a kiss on the back of his neck. She could hear the smile in his voice when he replied with a “Good morning, sleepyhead. Feeling any better?” She nodded in reply, laid her cheek against his back, and sighed contentedly, glad to finally have her fiancé back. Nick laid down his cooking utensils, then turned around, where he took Ellie into his arms and planted a soft kiss at her hairline.  
  
“I’m sorry you haven’t felt well, babe,” he said. “However, I heard through the grapevine that Palmer via Sloane kept you well-stocked with vitamins and medication.”  
  
Ellie could only nod and mumble a reply, as she was still half-asleep and too content in Nick’s embrace to utter a proper response. Torres noted, by the manner in which she leaned her whole weight into his embrace, that Bishop was more exhausted than she let on. Though his heart ached for how sick his fiancée was, Nick did not pass up a moment to have a quiet, serene moment with Ellie. These small and vulnerable moments were becoming more of the norm in their private life, and Nick loved and cherished every minute of it.  
  
“You get much sleep while I was gone?” he asked.  
  
Ellie replied, her response so quiet and muffled that Nick asked her to repeat herself.  
  
“I slept,” she reiterated in a louder tone of voice. “Nevertheless, it wasn’t restful because you weren’t here for me to snuggle into and cuddle with. I missed you and your warmth.”  
  
“Snuggle, huh?” Nick chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose, to which she crinkled her face in response. “You still must not be fully you yet because my Ellie rarely uses the words ‘snuggle’ or ‘cuddle’. Plus, you used one too many contractions than you normally do; your brain is not fully awake. C’mon, sweetheart. The pancakes can wait; I’m putting you back to bed.” Ellie tried to fight him, stating “I’m not a baby,” but her lack of a struggle – in addition to her snuggling further into the crook of Nick’s shoulder – further demonstrated how sick and exhausted she was.  
  
Thus, Bishop’s “Latin lover,” as Torres dubbed himself, lifted her in his arms, despite her fruitless objections, and took Ellie back to their bedroom without any additional complaint from her, tucking her in with another gentle kiss on her forehead. As he turned to walk away, Ellie grabbed his wrist and pulled on him, motioning for him to join her in bed. Nick didn’t hesitate to submit to her request. He immediately kicked off his slippers and slid underneath the comforter and extra quilts, peaceful smiles gracing their faces. Taking Ellie into his arms, she laid her head on Nick’s chest, snuggling deeper into his side with a contented sigh and a murmured “Love you”. Not long after, the couple’s breathing slowed, and both drifted off to sleep, the most restful slumber either had in four days.

* * *

_“For the two of us, home isn’t a place. It is a person. And we are finally home_. _”_ ~ _Stephanie Perkins_ , Anna and the French Kiss  
  
_“I’m dreamin’ of a place I love/_ _Even more than I usually do,/_ _And although I know it’s a long road back/_ _I promise you.../_ _Where the love light beams,/_ _I’ll be home for Christmas,/_ _If only in my dreams…”  
__~Bing Crosby,_ “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”


End file.
